Sunday, February 24, 2013

2012 Oscar Roundup

I continue my tradition of watching all of the Best Picture nominees so you don't have to.

The best:Argo and Lincoln were both high on my top 10 list. I'm rooting for Argo because, even though I ranked it a notch lower than Lincoln, it's probably a better movie. I'll be very happy if either of these win.

I'm cool if they win:Beasts of the Southern Wild, Zero Dark Thirty, and Django Unchained were all very good, and I'll be happy if any of them win. Django doesn't stand a chance, though. Beasts of the Southern Wild is such a cool and different movie that almost no one saw, so I'd be pretty happy if it wins. It definitely should have more eyes on it.

Middle of the Road:Life of Pi was good, but it's not an Oscar movie. Special effects, yes.Anything else, no. Still, it's better than the other.

Crap:Silver Linings Playbook, Les Miserables, Amour. Yuck, yuck, and yuck..I've written about Silver Linings and Les Miserables. I'll repeat what I believe - people didn't actually like Les Miserables. They like the music. I like the music, too. But not when Russell Crowe sings it. Or while looking at extreme closeups of boogers hanging out of their noses while they sing. Silver Linings Playbook had a horrible ending and unlikable main characters. Amour? Wow. It's definitely an interesting movie. It's the story of an elderly couple as one of them is dying. It does it differently than other similar movies. That's not always a good thing, though. When the closing credits first appeared, the woman behind me whispered, "What the fuck?" I agree with her review. In fact, just replace everything I wrote with that.

Let's look as some other categories (excuse my lack of italics for the titles. I just don't feel like it):
Best Adapted Screenplay: Beasts of the Southern Wild; I think any could win it.
Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway will win, Helen Hunt should.
Best Supporting Actor: Tough call - any could win. I would give it to Tommy Lee Jones.
Best Animated Feature: I only saw Wreck-it Ralph and Brave. Give it to Wreck-it Ralph.
Best Foreign: I only saw Amour. It sucked. But it was also nominated for Best Picture, so they'll probably give it here.
Best Original Screenplay (didn't see Flight): Moonrise Kingdom would be awesome. Probably Zero Dark Thirty.
Best Director: Since Ben Affleck wasn't nominated, Spielberg (Lincoln) or Zeitlin (Beasts)
Best Actor (didn't see Flight): Ridiculous if Daniel Day Lewis doesn't win. Feels like the only lock in any category.
Best Actress: Wallis (Beasts) is actually the best choice, but won't win. Toss up between the other four.
Best Visual Effects (didn't see Snow White): Hobbit or Avengers for me. Life of Pi will probably win.
Best Cinematography (didn't see Anna): No freakin' clue. Roll a five sided die.
Best Costume Design (only saw Lincoln and Les Mis): uhhh.. Avengers?
Best Film Editing: Argo?
Best Documentary: I only saw Searching for Sugar Man. It was good. You should see it. No clue what will win, though.
Best Original Score (didn't see Anna): The only music I can really remember from any of these was Skyfall because it's Bond.
Best Original Song: Any song from Ted deserves to win.
I think there are more categories, but that's all for now. I didn't see the live action or animated shorts this year. They're usually lots of fun, so I hope to be back next year.